Transportation routes and bus stops are developed by First Student, using staff that are very familiar with Sandwich roads and traffic patterns. They are also very experienced, licensed school bus drivers.

Sandwich school bus drivers are First Student employees. Each driver holds a special license and undergoes annual safety and driver training.

After bus routes are developed, they are driven and confirmed. The routes are then entered into the transportation software system and routes are published.

Bus service between school and daycare service is available only within the boundaries for each individual elementary school.

With this attention to detail and the need to stabilize routes and timing, there will be no changes made to bus routes for the first 2-weeks of school. No changes will be made to routes after October 1st of each school year.

If one feels a route change is needed, please contact the principal’s office at your child’s school or you can email your request to transportation@sandwich.k12.ma.us Please include your child’s name, your home address, email or phone number and the nature of your request. We will research the request and the school will contact you with the decision.

In case of an emergency it is essential to know which students are assigned to each bus.

Students may ride one bus to school and one bus home, but cannot ride on unassigned buses without prior approval of the administration. For example, if a student rides bus 10 to school in the morning s/he is assigned to ride the same bus in the afternoon. If a parent needs the student to ride a different bus than the “assigned” bus, that is acceptable providing the days are consistent. For example, the student that rides bus 10 in the morning may take bus 12 in the afternoon (5-days a week) to a grandparent’s home. This student would then be accounted for as bus 10 in the morning, and bus 12 in the afternoon. To insure that bus loads are manageable, parents must request approval for this change through the building principal. Switching back and forth between buses on different days is not permitted because it poses difficulties for the schools and the bus company to account for all riders, especially if an emergency situation occurs.

Taking a bus to a friend’s house is not permitted. Please remember that the bus company and district’s responsibility is to transport students from home to school and school to home.

Bus Stops

In cooperation with the Sandwich Police Department, the Sandwich School District and First Student the following highways/roads should not have students walking along the roadside:

House stops are provided for some students with significant medical needs. These require documentation from a physician similar to what an adult must produce to obtain a handicap parking permit.

Service within cul-de-sacs and dead-end streets is limited by the ability of the bus to safely pass cars parked along the road, and the ability to complete the turn-around without having to backup. First Student has to consider conditions that include changes when roads are plowed and cannot be completely cleared.

Service is also limited on narrow roads where the ability to pass oncoming vehicles is severely limited. In both of these cases, parents may be required to bring their child to the pick-up point at the assigned intersection with the main road.

Service within “gated private communities” is restricted.

Routes Information Available

Bus Routes are now posted on the District Website – you can view and download them here: Bus Routes

We publish the routes in the Sandwich Enterprise as well as on their website http://www.capenews.net/sandwich/. We expect them to be published in the September 1, 2017 paper.

PLEASE NOTE: For the first few days of school, students are asked to be at their bus stop 10-minutes prior to the scheduled pickup time. Thereafter, the bus company asks that students be at their bus stop 5-minutes prior to the scheduled pickup time.